House passes two-month Highway Trust Fund extension

The U.S. House passed the Highway Transportation Funding Act (H.R. 2353), a short-term surface transportation funding authorization extension that runs through July 31, on Wednesday.

"The Highway Trust Fund has enough money to pay for projects through the end of July, but its legal authority to spend that money expires at the end of this month," House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, said. "I would have preferred to pass an extension that lasted through the end of the year, but we just couldn’t come to a bipartisan agreement on how to pay for it. That’s unfortunate because the more time we spend on these short-term patches, the less time we’ll have to find a long-term solution.

"Ultimately, the only real solution is a long-term solution," Ryan said. "At the very least, this legislation will allow the trust fund to continue to fund projects through July, while we continue to work on an extension for the rest of the year. But if we really want to solve this problem, both parties need to confront the serious challenges facing the trust fund. That’s the only way we’ll come up with a plan to give states the certainty they need to build the roads and bridges our families need to thrive."